The WSJ reports that Delaware Gov. Jack Markell has signed into law a measure giving estate attorneys and other fiduciaries more control of their deceased clients’ digital data, a move that could set a national trends as policy makers wrestle with how to digital remains left behind on sites like Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOGL) after members die.

But CEO Meg Whitman warns that the computer giant still has “work to do” as it restructures and labors to regain market share. She told the WSJ that the revenue growth may not last, explaining that it may be tough to exceed last year’s exceptionally strong fourth-quarter sales figures. Also some parts of HP’s business shrank that should have provided pockets of growth.

Wall Street analysts, meanwhile, did not race to upgrade the stock, questioning the firm’s long-term trajectory.

Investors were not worried. At $36.27, HP rose $1.13, or 3.2%.

HP earned 89 cents a share on revenue of $27.59 billion. For the current quarter, HP sees profit of $1.03 to $1.07 a share, compared to the $1.05 average estimate from analysts recently surveyed by Capital IQ.

In May, the company announced plans to cut 16,000 jobs on top of the 34,000 that HP initially planned when Whitman put in place a restructuring initiative in May 2012.

HP has clearly benefitted from a stabilizing PC market. Fiscal third-quarter sales of PCs, in its “personal systems” group, rose 12%, year over year, helped by a 14% rise in commercial PC sales and an 8% increase in consumer.

But questions remain whether the rise in PC sales is a temporary blip. Meanwhile, Whitman’s vision for real growth remains in high-margin areas like the cloud, where the company is looking to replace Cisco (CSCO) as the industry’s leader in infrastructure equipment.

In a note to clients Thursday morning, analysts at Credit Suisse described third-quarter results as “a mixed bag.” Elsewhere, analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald said they believe the “long-term trajectory for HP remains in question” despite the massive restructuring.

The brokerage raised its price target to $34.50 from $30 previously, but maintained its hold rating and expressed concern over the “low-margin profile” of the PC market.

With the crest of the PC wave achieved in F3Q, and other big revenue pools like printing and services not yet recovering, overall revenue growth is likely to decelerate while other large cap tech companies experience improvement in the second half of this year. Free cash flow generation has been stellar, but should decline meaningfully in FY15 as PC growth slows and services stabilize. Our analysis suggests the stock follows cash flow trends, and therefore momentum could stall despite an inexpensive valuation

Revenue rose 1% to $27.59 billion, compared to the $27.06 billion expected by Capital IQ to yield per share earnings of 89 cents, compared to the company issued guidance of 86 cent to 90 cents

“Overall, I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve made,” said Chairman and CEO Meg Whitman in a prepared statement. “When I look at the way the business is performing, the pipeline of innovation and the daily feedback that I receive from our customers and partners, my confidence in the turnaround grows stronger.”

For the current quarter, HP sees profit of $1.03 to $1.07 a share, compared to the $1.05 average estimate from analysts recently surveyed by Capital IQ.

For the full year, HP narrowed its fiscal 2014 per share forecast $3.70 to $3.74 from $3.63 to $3.75. The Street is looking for full-year earnings of $3.72.

Investors are looking to see how Whitman executes on HP’s strengths and whether she can squeeze more from ongoing cost reductions. In May, the company announced plans to cut 16,000 jobs on top of the 34,000 that HP initially planned when Whitman put in place a restructuring initiative in May 2012.

The company is clearly benefitting forma stabilizing PC market. Fiscal third-quarter sales of PCs, in its “personal systems” group, rose 12%, year over year, helped by a 14% rise in commercial PC sales and an 8% increase in consumer.

But Whitman’s vision for real growth remains in high-margin areas like the cloud, where the company is looking to replace Cisco (CSCO) as the industry’s leader in infrastructure equipment.

Technology stock rose Tuesday as Google (GOOGL) markets its 10th anniversary as a public company and and Apple (AAPL) hit a new 12-month high.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 11 points or 0.25% to 4,519, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index gained almost 3.5 points, or 0.6%.

Apple rose 0.5% -week-high of $99.94, hitting a new 52-week high. Google climbed almost 0.8% to $597.20. When the company went public 10 years, many investors were skeptical about the stock. But according to Marketwatch.com, a $10,000 investment in 2004 would be worth almost $140,000 today

The cloud-services and hosting company Rackspace Hosting (RAX) climbed 4.1% to $33.14 a share after news broke late Monday that activist investor Blue Harbour Group increased its stake in the company to 6.5% from 2.5% in June.

Apple (APPL) shares rose 1.3% to $99.29 Monday following a report in the Guardian yesterday that production of the unscratchable sapphire covered iPhone 6 screens will begin large-scale production this month. The sapphire screen has been a big selling point for the device. It’s also a boon for GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) as Apple previously signed a $578 million deal with industrial sapphire supplier. The stock rose 6% to $18.42 in today’s market action.

Can Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) deliver strong earnings? The troubled computer giant is slated to close the door on its fiscal third quarter when it unveils financial results on Wednesday. The question is, can the company meet, or perhaps beat consensus estimates from sell-side analysts that call for a 3.4% rise in per share earnings to 89 cents on revenue expend to fall 0.8% to $27 billion.

Early today, Jeffrey Fidacaro, an analyst with Monness Crespi & Hardt, upgraded HP to Buy and set a target of $40 for the stock, citing hopes for a strong earnings report. He sees the company yielding 89 cents share on revenue of $27.2 billion.

But his new bullish stance isn’t all about Wednesday’s earnings. Among the five bullet points included in his recent note, Fidacaro sees strong free cash flow, margins improving in HP’s troubled services business and anticipates a surge in IT spending by corporate America in the second half of 2014.

Businesses are already buying more PCs and laptops now that Microsoft (MSFT) has ended technical support for its aging Windows XP operating systems. But corporate America is also facing a need to upgrade servers, Fidacaro says. He told Barrons.com:

The stock has done well since the restructuring starting in 2012. Now they finally have some tailwinds on the hardware spending. Company revenue fell 6.7% during fiscal 2013. Now they face a serve and PC upgrade cycle and the service business is starting to turnaround.

And then there’s the HP analyst meeting slated for Oct. 8, when the company is expected to release guidance for the new fiscal year that ends in October 2015.

Fidacaro sees revenue falling 1% during fiscal 2015 and predicts that free cash flow will at least remains flat to the $7.3 billion expected this year.

At $35.29, HP has climbed 0.6% in late morning market action. Today’s uptick has added to a rebound by the stock. Since hitting a multi-year low in late 2012, the shares have almost tripled in value.

But as Barron’s Jack Hough pointed out in April, Hewlett-Packard’s valuation remains humble (see, “Meg Whitman’s Turnaround at HP,” April 5). The stock now trades at 9 times the $3.91 a share the Street sees the company earnings in fiscal 2015, and 9 times free cash flow.

About Tech Trader Daily

Tech Trader Daily is a blog on technology investing written by Barron’s veteran Tiernan Ray. The blog provides news, analysis and original reporting on events important to investors in software, hardware, the Internet, telecommunications and related fields. Comments and tips can be sent to: techtraderdaily@barrons.com.